COVID-19 SafeTech – “No-Touch” and “Low-Touch” Experiences for Events and Conferences

CES 2021, SEMA 2020, and Tampa Bay Comic-Con are back on this year. What will conferences look like with COVID-19? How do we meet as we emerge from physical distancing and lead to a new normal? We can expect social distancing, face masks, sanitation stations, and air fist bumps. We are seeing many of the physical elements of activations (interactions that require guests to touch things) completely halted in their tracks. Expect more digital marketing materials and virtual takeaways. That is a given.

Sharp brands and their agencies will see the unique opportunity that we see: to seize the moment and to reshape the consumer experience landscape. To offer smart brand experiences featuring more immersive content and safe brand technology that is low to no-touch, yet socially-enriching and memorable. That’s what we do every day and we can help you do that too.

Groove Jones is already working with several agencies and brands on campaigns for the new world we live in. We wanted to share some of the technologies and approaches we are activating for events and conferences.

We Need to Re-Imagine Engagement – No-Touch and Low-Touch

Creating no-touch yet highly engaging and buzzworthy experiences will be a core principle going forward. Luckily we have deployed a lot of these technologies already. The key to many of these events in the future will be focused on smart, connected spaces and activations with a specific emphasis on utilizing the tech that will allow your audience to have an immersive experience without the traditional methods.

Quick
Sanitary
Memorable
Share worthy

Let’s take a look.

Camera Enabled Experiences

Cameras have evolved, and we’ve developed several platforms that utilize AR, ML, and LIDAR to create robust interactive experiences that use your hands, body, and even your FACE! Small footprints and connected tech make for easy sharing as well. Below are some great ways to engage with your audience.

AR Face Games

These are AR camera enabled experiences that allow a guest to walk up, and the game starts by recognizing their face. These are fun and casual games that star your guests. Plus, having a wall of these mounted displays is a great visual! We can create single kiosks as well.

Below is an example of an AR Face Game that utilizes the user’s phone.

Verizon – Holiday Reindeer Dash AR Facebook Ad Campaign for Verizon

Groove Jones and the Facebook Creative Studio worked with Verizon to create an AR face game that drove traffic to Verizon’s shopping promotions.

Case Study – https://www.groovejones.com/holiday-reindeer-dash-ar-facebook-ad-campaign-for-verizon
Video – https://f.io/LJLbLHFs

Gesture Controlled Games

We discussed Face Games above, but what about full-body tracking? Games and interactions controlled by a person without them touching a physical device or prop will surely see a comeback. The old Kinect Cameras have been discontinued to make way for the AI-enabled Azure Kinect, Intel RealSense Depth Cameras, and Apple’s ARKit Camera systems. It is better and makes it easier to integrate the experience into your booth.

20th Century Fox – The Wolverine

AR Kinect experience for the Wolverine Movie

Video of Experience – https://f.io/pEAFytz3

Pose with a Pro (Pro, Character, Superhero)

People love a takeaway, and a photo of yourself with a celebrity is a great social shareable. However, we know how some celebrities or pros have busy schedules. How about posing with a lifelike CGI digital double. We can create an animated 3d model of your “Pro” and integrate them into the environment.

Samsung Volumetric Delusion XR Horror Theater and AR Photo Booth

At the event, fans could pose with their favorite characters.

Case Study — https://www.groovejones.com/samsung-volumetric-delusion-xr-horror-theater-and-ar-photo-booth/

Comic Cam

Not just another photo opp, our Comic Cam App allows your guests to create a custom Comic Book Cover customized with their face integrated onto a superhero figure. After taking their photo, the Camera App creates a Style Transfer Filter that will add an illustrative style effect of the fan’s face. Then a brand ambassador has controls to allow the guest to select a figure (male or female), choose an action pose, select a matching skin tone, and then add their name to personalize the cover.

Comic Camera App that allows fans to pose and get turned into an NBA superhero of their favorite team.

Video – https://f.io/4XSSeJpQ

VidBomb App – Star in a personalized Video

Our VidBomb App allows us to create personalized videos that star your guests. We can capture their body or their face and composite them into pre-produced plates and then deliver the rendered video in seconds. Created to work with a green screen, we can now occlude your guest from a background without a green screen.

Wingstop – Vidbomb

Video App for putting flavor fans into the latest nationwide Wingstop commercial.

Case Study – https://www.groovejones.com/wingstop_vidbomb
Video – https://f.io/I53BGO7I

AR Murals, AR Galleries, and AR Scavenger Hunts

Today’s audience loves to be surprised, and we love seeing their reactions when they unlock an AR mural or poster with their phone. We can create a single AR mural or create multiple murals/posters for a gallery. We can also gamify the experience and turn it into a Scavenger Hunt. All of this can be done via a guest’s personal mobile phone and WebAR. No App needed!

Foxwoods Resorts and Casinos – David Ortiz “Big Papi” AR Portraits

A series of AR Portraits as part of a scavenger hunt promotion at the resort.

Case Study – https://www.groovejones.com/david_ortiz_foxwoods_ar/
Videos – https://f.io/HixrPG9d

WebAR Enabled Sales and Marketing Materials

Yes, takeaways and swag will still be around, and adding an AR component to it can create a deeper engagement with your audience. Below are two types of experiences that leveraged AR but they work the same way. WebAR has opened the doors so you can now do AR-enabled collateral without the need for an App.

Dallas Mavericks – Dirk Nowitzki Retirement 41.21.1. Celebration AR

A series of AR experiences to celebrate the retirement of Dirk Nowitzki. 10K people activated the ticket in 1 hour.

Case Study – https://www.groovejones.com/dallas_mavericks_dirk_nowitzki_ar/
Videos – https://f.io/H4i90zJq

CCI Health – AR-enabled Healthcare Collateral

AR App that works with their new informational book about being a new mother of a baby in the ICU

Case Study –

https://www.groovejones.com/childbirth_education_ar/

Hands-free Directional Sound Domes

Touchless directional sound allows us to provide an audio experience that is discrete and private – so you don’t have to blast it out to the entire convention floor. Combining it with a no-touch interactive display, sound domes allow your guests to hear every word.

sound domes

Big Bang Installations – XR Avatar Scanner

Our XR AVATAR STATION™ is the next-generation of the photo booth at events. We use volumetric camera technologies to create videos of your audience that are impossible to recreate in real-life. A 3D avatar of your guest is rendered into a suite of custom branded videos where your guests are the stars. The apex of paparazzi- personalization, it’s unlike anything else on an event floor.

The XR Avatar Station is a turn-key portable platform that includes:

XR Avatar Volumetric Scanner System
- Full 360 Volumetric Scan
- High-resolution Texture Capture
Customer Acquisition System
Media Delivery System via Email or Text
Staffing for managing and running at events

Overview – https://www.groovejones.com/xr_avatar_station_volumetric_scanner

Videos – https://f.io/fueb_9oa